Four Doors and Other Stories Read Online Free PDF Page A

The simple and yet so complicated gesture of making a decision, based on an inner impulse, made her feel empowered and free.
    She reached the anglers’ village at dusk. She pulled near the edge of the seawall, so near that one might have thought she planned to ditch the car by pushing it into the abyss.
    La Prison was quiet and empty. Nobody would normally visit on a Monday off-season. She was standing still, next to her car, leaning against the driver’s door, her eyes wandering up high. In fact, not that high because the sky seemed to have come closer, almost at an arm’s length, splashing bright, shiny stars on her.
    A street lamp lightened behind her and a shadow came forth, to the middle of the main alley.
    “Are you the city lady I spoke to this afternoon?” a deep voice asked.
    “That would be me!” she answered with a smile, walking away from the stars to her regret.
    “I thought you would never get here!” the shadow said, revealing itself bit by bit. “We’re not used to receiving guests at such late hours.”
    She finally saw a short but well-built man. He was wearing a white shirt, made of thick cloth, and a pair of deep blue corduroy trousers, adorned with braces. He had a scarf around his neck and a cap on his head, pulled over his eyes. His round, pointed, stumpy shoes were more appropriate for the rough tracks on the mountains than the fine sand of the beach. While helping her with the luggage, she also noticed his sunburnt arms.
    “Are there any pirates around,”she tried a joke.
    “There were, once,” he answered bluntly, in no mood for talking.
    The house had nothing in common with a prison. Except maybe, for the barred peepholes in the massive wooden doors of the chambers. The hallway walls looked like they were built of heavy river stone that kept coolness even during unbearable heat. She had a sea view room. It was not too large, nor too small, painted white. The closet was cast into the wall. A sailing vessel was trapped in a bottle and stood on a shelf. A cream-coloured paper shade was softening the lamp’s light.
    “How long will you stay,” the man asked her as soon as he put down the luggage.
    “I have no idea. This time, I did not plan anything. It just happened.”
    She had never met such a grumpy host before, a man who was so visibly displeased with strangers coming by.
    “I love this house,” she said, because this was how normally she was getting by in her job, gaining other people’s sympathy and approval. “Are you the landlord?”
    “No,” he answered briskly. “Goodnight! Moreover, please, bear in mind that we don’t serve breakfast. If you want to grab a bite, you have to go down the main road, turn right and, a few meters away, there is a small general store.” In other words it was like he was saying to her: “From now on, you are on your own. Stand on your own two feet and leave me alone!”
    She was too happy to mind his attitude. In addition, she thought that it would change, once he saw her in the daylight.
    “I almost forgot, the key,” he exclaimed, retracing his steps. “Anyone is free to come and go as one pleases!”
    Big deal! Everybody does, of course. They were paying customers after all. Moreover, they were paying good money and a little more kindness would do. She would have a word about it with the property owner as soon as she saw him. She had made up her mind: she disliked the man with the scarf. She waited for the noise of his footsteps to die away, rushed outside into the yard and greedily inhaled the air that smelled like seaweed. The display of her cell phone, abandoned in her room, was lighting up frantically, flashing on and off, the name “Darling.”
    The man had locked the gate with a key he had forgotten to give to her. Luckily, she had long legs and easily jumped over the small fence. She headed to the left, along the dusty path on the edge of the seawall. All the houses were in the dark. Now and then, a dog suddenly awoke from